Midterms are officially in full swing, meaning Binghamton University students need a distraction from the workload to help them unwind. This Saturday, Oct. 20, Bing Stand-Up will lighten up the midterm mood by hosting its second annual Comedy Festival.
The event consists of two free stand-up shows, one at 6:30 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m., with a 30-minute intermission in between. Performances will be given by six Bing Stand-Up members: Alejandro Galeno, Brian Walsh, Greg DiPaul, Jill Pizzuto, Kevin Brown and Vicky Kim. Among these BU students, there will also be performances from comedians from surrounding New York colleges like Ithaca College, Colgate University and SUNY Purchase.
Unlike last year, when Bing Stand-Up hosted this event for the first time, the show will be condensed back from the four shows it previously held over a two-day span. Now, it will only be hosting two shows that will both take place on Saturday. In the past, its comedy show used to have specific themes for the night, such as “The Sex Show” and “Bing Stand-Up Puts Christ Back in Christopher Columbus Day.” This year, the executive board decided to not have a set theme for the upcoming comedy festival.
Kevin Brown, president of Bing Stand-Up and a junior majoring in biology, noted that they didn’t want to set a theme for this year’s shows.
“Comedians will have total freedom of what they would like to include in their sets,” Brown wrote in an email. “We hope this would make the show as fun and comfortable as possible.”
With the theme being flexible for all the comedians, the content of this show will be a surprise for the audience. Audiences should expect each act to be different from one another, so there should be a little something for everyone.
Brian Walsh, member of Bing Stand-Up and a senior majoring in English, hopes to make his part in the show funny with self-deprecating humor.
“My plans are to keep exploring the extent to which I can physically degrade and debase myself,” Walsh said. “I hope the comics coming in from other schools will draw in a good crowd.”
After all the hours of planning that have gone into the event so far, Brown is eager to see this year’s show come to fruition.
“We’re extremely excited, we’re looking forward most to the fact that we’ll be showcasing the talented stand-up comedians from colleges all around New York to the students of Binghamton University,” Brown wrote. “What we hope most that the audience gets out of this event is a great night full of laughs and maybe even a new favorite stand-up comedian.”